Total sales last month dropped 4 percent compared with the
same period a year earlier, the Stockholm-based company said in
a statement today, missing the average estimate in an SME Direkt
survey for a decline of 2 percent. Revenue at stores and
operations open at least a year fell 12 percent, compared with
the 11.2 percent consensus estimate.

Unusually cold weather and snowstorms in many markets
weighed on sales of spring fashions, H&M said, adding that
below-average temperatures have continued into April. H&M’s
same-store sales have declined for six straight months, while
price cuts designed to stoke demand have eroded profitability.

“I’m not sure the development in April and May can close
the gap of what they lost in March,” said Soeren Loentoft
Hansen, an analyst at Sydbank A/S in Copenhagen. “There is a
shorter period of time to sell spring garments.”